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I can't find a word of advice in the Benedetto book. Aesthetically I just want to put white plastic over the heel with .020" W/B on the border that's closest to the neck. How do you guys do it and make it line up and work with your body bindings?
-John

On the ones that I have done, what I do is have the neck fitting pretty much exactly where its final spot will be. then plane the heel cap section flat (for gluing, mine is actually on a 5 degree slant) such that it lines up with the top of the guitar body's side purfling. Glue a full piece (ie the shape of the heel cap) of the purf laminations you need, plus the heel cap, onto the heel area. I do this oversize a bit, then shape the neck as normal. So in effect, its not bound, its laminated all the way thru.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I glue my heel cap on after the neck is set and glued. Its the final piece I added before final sanding. This way, I can get the best fit to the body. No gaps etc. Unless your doing a bolt on neck, its tough to get a wide heel cap to fit perfectly tight with a dovetail joint. I don't know too many people who do dovetails and glue the heel cap first.

Just my two cents.

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Joe

I do it like Tony. Since my side purflings are usually black and white fiber, the sheets of this stuff that are available in various thicknesses from LMI are useful.

The heel cap is always the last piece to get glued on my guitars. After the neck is fully fitted, with a bit of extra length in the heel, I mark the sides of the heel where I want it to end up so the purflings align, and trim it on a disc sander. First come close, then take off small increments. You could plane it, but it's hard to hand sand such a small area with a block and keep it flat.

I glue the "purfling" lams, and then the cap. All a little oversize. Then trim them to the heel.

I don't understand why the method of joining the neck affects this at all. I've done it with both dovetail and bolt joints.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.